Venturi scrubber with variable area throat

Claim 1

A wet gas venturi scrubber comprising a venturi tube having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and defining a narrowed throat therebetween, gas moving means for moving a stream of gas through said tube, and liquid injection means for injecting a cleansing liquid into said gas upstream of said throat, wherein the improvement comprises a rotor disposed in said throat and including a transverse pivot shaft extending between opposite sides of said throat and mounted for rotation about the axis thereof, said rotor also including a plurality of spaced parallel members being disposed within said throat and being perpendicular with and secured to said shaft, said rotor having spaces between said members of substantial width in relation to the width of said members and being rotatable into any selected angular position between a first position permitting a maximum flow through said throat wherein said members extend longitudinally of said throat and a second position permitting a minimum flow through said throat wherein said members extend transversely of said throat, said spaces permitting a substantial flow through said throat even when said rotor is in said second position.